A method for evacuating a building is disclosed, for example, in DE 10 2013 201 873 A1. According to this method, the place of a mobile device and, therewith, the location of a person bearing the mobile device within a building are determined with the aid of an indoor positioning system (WLAN nodes, hotspots, access points). The mobile device reads the building plan from identifiers (QR codes or barcodes) installed in the building. Available escape paths are determined in accordance with the determined position. An escape route, e.g., the fastest path from the current location to the nearest passable emergency exit, is determined for the person from the determined location and the available escape paths. The calculated escape route is represented graphically on the mobile device. For wheelchair users, the method provides guidance to a safe place in the building—in order to wait there for a rescue team—through evacuation information.
Another approach for evacuating buildings is disclosed in WO 2014/191610. Therein, an elevator system is used to evacuate people out from the building. The method disclosed comprises determining the number of people to be evacuated for each floor, and determining whether a person to be evacuated preferentially (for example, with a physical limitation) is included among these people. The method then comprises calculating therefrom, for each floor, the estimated waiting time for evacuating, and indicates same respectively on the floor.
Although DE 10 2013 201 873 A1 and WO 2014/191610 describe solutions for evacuating people out from buildings, these solutions do not take into account changing conditions during an evacuation situation. There is a need for an improved technology for evacuating an building, with which people can be evacuated safely and efficiently from the building, even if the conditions change during an evacuation, for example, due to panicking or a rapidly-spreading fire.